Determination by ultraviolet absorption spectrometry and theoretical calculation of dissociation constant of 1,2,3,9-tetrahydro-4H-carbazol-4-one

The dissociation constant of 1,2,3,9-tetrahydro-4H-carbazol-4-one was determined by ultraviolet absorption spectrometry method based on the absorption spectra of 1,2,3,9-tetrahydro-4H-carbazol-4-one at different pH in ethanol–water mixed solvents. The results show that the pKb was a good linear function of the volume fraction of ethanol in the concentration range studied. The dissociation constant of 1, 2, 3,9-tetrahydro-4H-carbazol-4-one in water were determined by extrapolation to be 14.04 under the condition of this experiment. The accurate pKb calculations of 1,2,3,9-tetrahydro-4H-carbazol-4-one have been investigated using the combination of the extended clusters-continuum model with the polarizable continuum solvation model (PCM). The calculations are performed at the B3LYP/6-31G levels. The formation of molecular clusters by means of the 1,2,3,9-tetrahydro-4H-carbazol-4-one wrapped up with water molecules leads to the weakness of the interaction between the polar solvents and the 1,2,3,9-tetrahydro-4H-carbazol-4-one, hence, the accuracy of pKb has been enhanced. The dissociation constant of 1,2,3,9-tetrahydro-4H-carbazol-4-one in water were calculated to be 14.10 and agreed well with experimental data.